


Feels Like Home

by steveharringtonofficial



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Cousin!Steve, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 09:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13656372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steveharringtonofficial/pseuds/steveharringtonofficial
Summary: REQUEST: Can I request a Billy x reader where maybe the reader is the cousin of Steve, and when he finds out that R is dating Billy, he gets really protective, but Billy is really sweet to R and they’re just really happy together!SUMMARY: You move to Hawkins after your Uncle offers you a job. Little did you know it would lead to you meeting the love of your life, who just so happens to be your cousin’s most disliked person.





	Feels Like Home

You moved over to Hawkins after your cousin’s father offered you a small secretary position at his firm. Your parents almost forced you to take it, telling you it would be a much better opportunity than staying where you were already living. You didn’t quite understand how moving to Hawkins, Indiana - aka, the middle of fucking nowhere - would help you any more than staying at home in California or trying to apply to colleges. But you were eager to get a head start, a small position often led to higher and better paid positions and you weren’t about to turn that down right after graduating high school. In your mind, you were now ahead of everyone else, actually having a paid job instead of staying in school dreading each day for the next four years.

Another good factor of moving over to Hawkins was actually getting to see your cousin, Steve. You were the same age, give or take a few months. He’d be graduating right about now and knowing him, he’d likely be working for his father too. You and Steve had always gotten along, being the oldest ones amongst the sea of siblings and cousins that was your family.

You didn’t stay with Steve and his parents though; through a few years of saving up money you had managed to save enough for a deposit on a small house near the edge of town. Sure, you wanted to keep that money so you could travel, but you decided it was a good enough reason to spend it. You’d be earning more anyway, and you’d have the savings built up again in no time.

It hadn’t been long into the summer you moved when you found out about Billy Hargrove. Steve absolutely despised him, though you couldn’t see why. He tried explaining to you time after time without giving you too much detail of the events that bad happened but nothing he said matched up. Billy did give off a troublemaker vibe, but whenever you saw him out and about, he seemed less than threatening. Perhaps the months that had passed had changed him for the better and Steve was in denial.

It took Billy a while to catch on why you were in town. He’d seen you a few times at the store or in the diner, trying to figure out what it was that seemed so familiar about you. Clearly, it was your miniscule resemblance to Steve, but Billy couldn’t remember Steve having a sibling and therefore he rendered his thoughts useless and decided to speak to you when he had the chance.

Billy’s chance was at the diner, you had previously been there with Steve while he was waiting to pick Dustin up and drop him off home. You stayed a while after he left, finishing off a book you had picked up to read in your spare time, and were just about to pack up your things when Billy slid into the seat opposite you.

You looked up at him, eyes furrowing slightly at his bold manoeuvre. You zipped up your bag after finishing your interrupted task of putting your book away, and then turned your full attention to the mullet-headed man in front of you.

“Can I help you?” You asked, knowing full well Steve would be pissed with you if you even uttered a single word to his sworn enemy.

Billy clicked his tongue, leaning back on the red leather seat, it squeaking under his questionable attire of double denim. “You see, you look familiar but I can’t quite place it and I was wondering if you could enlighten me?” He shined a smile your way and you immediately understood what Steve meant when he said Billy was like a predatory animal. That smile was enough to send you reeling over the edge and compel you to do his bidding.

You hummed, trying to contain your composure even though you could tell Billy knew exactly what he was doing. “Steve’s my cousin - Steve Harrington? - if that’s what you’re thinking of? We’re not that similar though.”

Billy nodded his head in understanding, flicking his eyes to look out of the window instead of staring you down like he had been since the second he touched the seat. You felt the hot flush on your face die down with the presence of his gaze removed from you.

“We should hang out sometime.” The corners of Billy’s lips turned up into a smirk, a small curl falling onto his forehead. Jesus Christ, this man was attractive and you were having a hard time even just thinking of turning him down.

“Are you kidding? I’m 100% sure Steve would kill me.” You let out a small laugh and Billy’s smirk turned into a full smile. You weren’t quite sure why, but there was something more to Billy than he let on, and definitely more to him than Steve had told you.

He only shrugged his shoulders. “He doesn’t have to know about it. I’m moving into a house near the edge of town so it’s not even like we’ll be nearby.” Billy leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. He stroked underneath his chin, waiting for you to speak again.

“Which edge?” You asked, curious as to whether it was near you or not. You found yourself drawn in by Billy and were constantly cursing yourself for it.

“West. Those tiny houses by Rosewood?” Your heart skipped a beat. That was exactly where you lived so there was no reasonable excuse you could use.

You clicked your tongue, trying to think of something. “I can’t tell if you know where I live and are stalking me or if you actually live there.”

Billy let out a small laugh and shook his head. “No, I actually live there. What a coincidence though, right?” He grinned at you and looked out towards the parking lot again. His car was the only one there and he furrowed his brows in the realisation you would need to walk home.

“You need a ride back?” He asked, nodding his head out towards the parking lot before looking back over at you. “It’s getting pretty late and I wouldn’t want you walking home in the dark.”

You rolled your eyes at him but he was right. You hadn’t realised how late it’d gotten and you dreaded walking in the dark, particularly with how far it was in the diner. It couldn’t hurt to let Billy take you home. “Sure. Why not? Just don’t like… kidnap and murder me, alright?” You pointed a finger accusingly at him with a giggle.

He ran his tongue over his lips. “I can’t promise anything, sweetheart.”

You bit your tongue at his comment, wanting to say something snarky back but failing to think of anything. You finished up the milkshake you had been drinking and let Billy take you to his car.

You ended up on your sofa, reruns of some old show on in the background, talking to Billy about your childhood. He’d grown up in San Diego and you had grown up in San Francisco. Just talking to him made you feel a little bit more at home here in Hawkins, but when he delved into his memories at the beach or of his mother, you truly began to feel homesick.

Billy soon became your go-to when you were feeling sad, only a two-minute walk from your house, he was the obvious choice. You loved Steve with all your heart, but he just couldn’t understand your ache for the sound of the city or the smell of the ocean. Billy did and it was all it took for you to begin to fall for him. He was everything you missed about home bundled into one person.

Billy fell for you too, hard. The way you still managed to smell like sea salt even after months of not living near the seaside, or how you just radiated such positive energies that he had only ever felt in California. All Billy could do was drink you up, and that’s exactly what he planned on doing.

He spent every minute he could with you, even though he wouldn’t admit it. Falling for a girl like he hadn’t ever done before. Usually, they were the ones drooling over him. He wasn’t used to it, but he did like it. He enjoyed how you could instantly make him feel better with the slightest smile or a small giggle. He came to you when things got hard or out of hand and you fixed it almost immediately.

It didn’t take long for the two of you to officially begin dating. You were very quiet about it, though neither of you had many friends in town to tell anyway. The two of you still reminisced about California and Billy promised you that you’d get back, one way or another. You wanted to stay in Hawkins for the job, but honestly, it  _was_  getting kind of dull and the pay was definitely not as good as you were promised. You knew you’d be better off in California, but it was worth moving to Hawkins if just to meet Billy.

When Steve found out you were dating Billy, he was furious. You wanted to tell him beforehand but you knew he’d react the way he did and so left it until you felt it was right. You didn’t get that chance, however, when Steve came over unexpectedly to check up on you and saw you and Billy chatting over lunch.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Steve asked, trying to keep his voice reasonably calm but failing miserably at it.

“He lives up the street, Steve, it’s no big deal.” You said, waving him off as you took a sip of your coffee.

Steve scoffed, pulling out a chair at the table to sit down. “No big deal? He’s practically my worst enemy.”

Billy shuffled in his seat and you could tell he just wanted to leave the situation. He had explained what happened between them, and he regretted it immeasurably, but Steve never gave him the chance to apologise to him, always ignoring him when he tried to talk or just point-blank walking in the other direction.

“ _Your_  worst enemy, Steve. Not mine.”

“I told you how much of a dick he is.” Steve ran a hand through his hair, clearly very annoyed with your choice of friends.

“Yeah, and if you gave him the time of day you would see that he’s trying to change. You were an asshole too once, remember?” You looked over at Billy who had kept his eyes trained on his plate, playing with the last remains of his food instead of engaging with you.

Steve also looked over at Billy as well, unsure of what to think. He knew people could change, like you said, he was a dick as well, but he just couldn’t accept it. It was too personal, but Steve trusted you, and he trusted that you wouldn’t hang around with someone who would hurt you. You could read people too well for that.

He sighed and got up out of the chair and started walking for the door. Steve had to think things over in order to come to a conclusion and he thought it would be best not to do that here, where he would just voice all of his opinions out loud without thinking about them first.

Steve started for the door, but stopped in his tracks and turned back to you.

“You’re just friends, right? Nothing else going on?” He asked you. He didn’t like the idea of you being friends, but he sure as hell hated the idea of you two dating.

You and Billy exchanged a look and Steve sighed heavily, shutting his eyes in an attempt to control his anger.

“If you hurt her…” Steve started, focusing his gaze on Billy who for the first time genuinely looked scared of Steve. “You’ve got another thing coming for you.”

Steve left without saying another word and you rolled your eyes at how threatening he was trying to be. But Billy knew Steve could fight, and he could fight well, if he really wanted to. Particularly when he was trying to protect people he cared about.

You had no issues with it though. Billy had shown you time and time again you had nothing to worry about when it came to him. There was no possible way he could hurt you, not on purpose anyway. Billy tried his damned hardest to make sure you were always happy, and when he couldn’t, he would support you and reassure you. He’d help to just make sure you were comfortable.

You didn’t understand why Steve hated Billy so much, but you didn’t need to. Steve soon came around after he saw you and Billy interacting with each other. He’d never seen someone so aggressive become so soft, and it was almost all because of you.


End file.
